Anthropological Studies of Religion: An Introductory Text
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Book Overview
In this important, scholarly and wide-ranging text, Brian Morris provides a lucid outline of the nature of the explanations of religious phenomena offered by such great thinkers as Hegel, Marx, and Weber. In doing so he also unravels the many theoretical strategies in the study of religion that have been developed and explored by later anthropologists. Besides discussing the classical authors and the debates surrounding their work, Morris presents perceptive accounts of more contemporary scholars such as Jung, Malinowski, Levi-Strauss, Geertz, and Godelier. Written from the standpoint of critical sympathy, and free of jargon, this book is an invaluable guide to the writings on religion of all the major figures in anthropology.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:052133991X
ISBN13:9780521339919
Release Date:February 1987
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Length:382 Pages
Weight:2.05 lbs.
Dimensions:0.7" x 6.0" x 8.9"
Customer Reviews
3 ratings
A brilliant man
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
I've lost my copy of this book and am willing to buy it again!Having had the great privilege of taking several courses with Professor Morris, I highly, highly recommend this and any other book he's authored. He is an excellent anthropologist with a deep understanding of the concepts he delves into.
A good introduction
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
I just finished reading this book as a starting point for a larger research project into the anthropological perspective on religion and found it to be a useful and in-depth introduction. This is not a "for beginners" book and Morris does not talk down to the reader. Morris provides a broad overview of important perspectives on religion from sociologists (Marx, Weber, Durkheim), anthropologists (Turner, Levi-Strauss, Malinowski, Douglas), and even covering, although pretty critically, the psychoanalytic interpretations of Freud and Jung. This is a good, comprehensive introduction that gives a general overview and deals with the criticisms of a flaws in the theories covered.
in-depth theoretical approach with very little bias
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 26 years ago
This book is a great textbook for any beginning anthropological student (whether or not you're in school) though it is very dense and tough to get through. First, you get a paragraph or so explaining the background of the person whose theories are being presented. Then you get the basic reactions and opinions of the scholar and their theories, followed by an explanation of the theories themselves. In some cases, you also get other scholars' criticisms and then the original's rebuttals. Morris seems to have a pretty liberal approach to the field, and it is rare to see his biases show.
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